Come Away With Me
by Hippopants
Summary: One shot songfic. Just before Sarah goes to his apartment, Eric is alone with his memories. Rated for brief strong language.


Disclaimer I do not own the song lyrics or the characters in this story. They belong to Norah Jones and James O'Barr respectively.

Come Away With Me

"_Come away with me in the night,_

_Come away with me and I will write_

_You a song,"_

He entered the old apartment. The paint was peeling off the walls now, but he still remembered when she had painted it. Red. Bright red. The colour he hated most. But whatever she wanted, she got. He would have done anything for her, just to see her beautiful face smiling at him. He remembered how she'd teased him when she first got the apartment. "I'm gonna paint the whole place red!" she'd laughed. He'd laughed as well, thinking she was joking. But he'd come home to find her on top of the ladder, paintbrush in hand, and red everywhere. "What the hell?" he'd said, and she'd laughed again. "My apartment, my rules, my paint!" she'd answered. "Your rules, huh?" he'd said, grinning and picking up another paintbrush that was covered in paint. She'd backed away, recognising that mischievous look in his eyes. "No, don't!" she'd screamed, but it was too late; paint all over her clothes and the floor. "You can clean this mess up!" she'd yelled. "Or what?" he'd replied, still grinning. "Or I'll never kiss you again!" she'd answered, suddenly serious. 'Oh shit,' he'd thought, and the grin had disappeared instantly from his face. He'd looked at her, about to apologise, when suddenly she'd burst out laughing. "You should've seen your face!" she'd laughed, and then she'd come over and kissed him again and again. "How could I never kiss you again?" she'd said.

"_Come away with me on a bus,_

_Come away with me where they can't tempt us,_

_With their lies,"_

He smiled at the memory. God, he missed her. How the hell had he ended up here in the first place? Why was that massive fucking bird following him, telling him where to go? How the fuck could the bird talk to him? So many questions with no answers. If the bird knew, it certainly wasn't telling. The rain had begun to pour outside and as he stood by the window, he remembered what she'd said the first time that she'd seen the place. "I love it! That window is fantastic! How many apartments have you seen with a window like this? It has to be mine!" He gently touched the window, tracing a falling raindrop with his fingertip on its journey down the glass. "Ouch!" he cried suddenly, pulling his finger away. 'Oh yeah, I forgot..." he said, staring at his bleeding finger and then at the broken glass. Now he remembered that night, pushing the door to and seeing...

"_And I wanna walk with you,_

_On a cloudy day,_

_In fields where the yellow grass grows knee high,"_

He shook his head. The bird was telling him not to look. 'Yeah, like I'd want to remember,' he thought coldly. He turned around and started towards the dresser. In it, he found photos of her and one photo in particular made him grin. It was her in a long white dress, laying in the grass and reaching up to him. He remembered that day so clearly – they'd taken the car and had just driven all day long. She'd made him stop the car. "I wanna go run in the grass!" she'd protested, and so she had, calling him to come with her. He'd just laughed and stood by the car, waiting. But then she'd disappeared and he couldn't see her. At first, he'd thought she'd been playing around with him, but after awhile, he'd become concerned, and had started off through the grass, calling her name. Suddenly, he'd been pulled over, and there she was, smiling and laughing at him. He'd pushed her over then and taken a photo. "I'll send this one to Playboy, I think," he'd joked. "You wouldn't dare!" she'd cried, before leaping on him and trying to wrestle the camera off him.

"_So won't you try,_

_To come,_

_Come away with me,_

_And we'll kiss,_

_On a mountain top,"_

Later, they'd gone back to the car and had lain on the bonnet, watching the sun set. He'd wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, and she'd returned the kiss, telling him that she loved him. He'd driven home, glancing at her every now and then as she slept in the car beside him, and had smiled to himself, thinking himself to be the luckiest man alive.

"_Come away with me,_

_And I'll never stop,_

_Loving you,"_

He remembered what had happened when they'd got home. "Come here," he'd said, pulling her over to the ladder. "I wanna show you something." She'd groaned. "But I'm tired, Eric. I wanna go to sleep!" He'd grinned. "It'll only take a minute, I promise. Then you can sleep." So she'd reluctantly been pushed up the ladder. "Go on, go in the attic!" he'd encouraged her, whilst she'd looked at him and rolled her eyes. But she did as he said. He remembered the look on her face when she saw the candles everywhere, and the small, black, velvet-covered box in the centre of the room. He remembered how she'd gasped with delight when she'd opened that box and had seen the tiny gold ring with the word 'Forever' engraved on it, and the tears in her eyes when he'd proposed.

"_And I wanna wake up,_

_With the rain,_

_Falling on a tin blue roof,_

_While I'm safe there_

_In your arms,"_

Then two weeks later, she'd come bursting into the apartment. "What do you think about getting married on Halloween?" she'd asked excitedly. "Halloween?" he'd questioned. "Why Halloween?" "It'll be fun," she'd replied, "How many people do you know that get married on Halloween?" "Not many, but then that's because they're not crazy," he'd said sarcastically, whilst she'd rolled her eyes at him. "Can't you be serious for a minute?" she'd asked. "Can you?" he'd taunted her, then seeing that dangerous look in her eyes, he'd said, "So, we're getting married on Halloween then? Great idea, why didn't I think of that?" She'd smiled then come over and kissed him. "Thank you," she'd said gently in his ear. "It'll be great, I promise. You won't regret it."

"_So all I ask is for you,_

_To come away with me,_

_In the night_" 

He was crying. He'd wanted to be with her forever, but those bastards had ruined it. He didn't know them. Why had they been chosen that night? It didn't make sense. All his plans ruined, his whole world destroyed in one night. Now the anger returned. He gathered all the photos together, and looking at them briefly one more time, he crouched down and threw them into the fire. Out of his pocket he pulled a small gold ring, and went to cast that into fire as well. But he stopped. That ring was his last reminder of her, of the way she was. Could he really give it up? Feeling the sadness wash over him, he held the ring tightly in his hand and felt the tears run down his face. He sat down, and held his head in his hands. He pictured her reaching out to him and he closed his eyes. Without moving his lips, he said her name softly. "Shelly..."

"_Come away with me."_


End file.
